1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a smartphone case with a concealed internal card cache, and to a method of using such a case to store one or more cards, such as credit cards, identity cards, other plastic cards bearing a magnetic strip, or business cards. More particularly, the present invention relates to a smartphone case with a card cache including a slidably mounted card support drawer, a latch for retaining the tray inside of a main case body, and a concealed switch which is operable to release the card support drawer using a spring-loaded ejection mechanism.
2. Description of the Background Art
Many different smartphone cases are known and commercially available. A number of different devices are known for storing cards such as identity cards or credit cards.
Examples of some of the known card storage devices include Kawamura, U.S. Design Pat. 470,657, Fellig, U.S. Design Pat. 626,119, Mangan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,400, Tiscione et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,412,627, Wang et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,865,210, Longinotti-Buitoni, U.S. Pat. No. 8,047,364, Mongan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,267,251, Gannon, U.S. Pat. No. 8,528,812, Long, US Pub. 2009/0101255, Kao, US Pub. 2010/0224519, Hall, US Pub. 2012/0244918, Raj, US Patent Publication 2014/0006277, Schmid, European Patent Publication 2,685,343, Kraml, French Patent Publication 2,893,233, and Broly, WIPO Publication 2013124593. In addition, a commercial smartphone case with a concealed card slot is commercially available and sold under the brand “Switcheasy CARD™” by SwitchEasy Limited LLC of Hong Kong. This case includes a highly visible activation button, and can be obtained from www.switcheasy.com. The Switcheasy CARD case merely pushes the card part way out of the phone case when the button is slid out, and the user must then grasp the exposed edge of the card and pull it out of the case.
Although the known devices have some utility for their intended purposes, a need still exists in the art for an improved smartphone case with card-storage capability. In particular, there is a need for an improved smartphone case with a card cache which will actively expel a card support drawer when a switch is activated.